Astros Emerging Starting Pitcher’s ‘Hot Start Is for Real’ Says MLB Writer

During the Houston Astros' dynasty, there were a few things their roster consistently had to help keep them atop the league.

One of the most important things was to have an ace to anchor the staff.

For a long while, it was Justin Verlander holding down that role. The Astros also had Gerrit Cole at one point and, most recently, have been relying on Framber Valdez to hold things down atop the rotation.

Alas, things change over time, and other players need to emerge.

Cole departed in free agency, signing with the New York Yankees ahead of the 2020 campaign. Verlander departed, for the second time, this past winter when he agreed to a one-year deal with the San Francisco Giants.

Valdez could follow the same path as those two aces before him, set to hit the open market this upcoming offseason.

Despite his age, Houston needs to be prepared to pay him a significant amount of money because his style of pitching is one that ages gracefully. He doesn’t rely on dynamic stuff, focusing on hitting his spots and inducing soft contact and ground balls with regularity.

Should he depart, the Astros can at least rest a little easier knowing they have another player to step right into the ace role: Hunter Brown.

How Has Hunter Brown Turned Into Ace for Astros?

He has been excellent, carrying over the momentum built in 2024. From May through the end of the campaign, only Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves, winners of the National League Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards, had lower ERAs.

Brown has been even better in 2025, leading the MLB with six wins, a 1.86 FIP, 0.2 HR/9 and 2.1 bWAR. He has a 1.48 ERA with 58 strikeouts across 48.2 innings, taking his performance to another level.

In the opinion of Tim Kelly of Bleacher Report, it isn’t going to stop any time soon.

“With a repotoire that includes a 97 mph fastball, 96 mph sinker, a knuckle curve, change-up, slider and cutter, we're inclined to think that the 26-year-old's hot start is for real,” he wrote.

The entire mix has produced incredible numbers to this point, with his Baseball Savant page being entirely red.

That is the kind of stuff a team loves to see from an emerging young hurler, with Brown putting himself in the AL Cy Young conversation and providing them an anchor for the rotation to build around for years to come.